Sources involved in the planning of the trip say that the Pope will probably make stops in Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluit during a four-day trip to the country. CBC News did not identify the confidential sources because they were not authorized to speak in public. The pontiff first announced plans for a visit during his April 1 meeting with Native Canadians from the Vatican, where he offered a first apology for the actions of individual members of the Roman Catholic Church in residential schools in Canada. Sources say the trip with the three planned stops – which will be funded by the Canadian Catholic Church, possibly in federal dollars – was under discussion before the Vatican meetings. Delegates traveling to Rome expect Pope Francis to apologize on Canadian soil for the church’s role in running schools, which will fulfill a key call from the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron said leading Vatican groups had already located Iqaluit, Quebec City and Edmonton as part of preparations for the trip. First Left Assembly Speaker Gerald Antoine, center-left, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed and Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron walk in St Peter’s Square after a final hearing with Pope Francis . (Yara Nardi / Reuters)
Caron said her organization was also discussing the pope’s planned visit through a committee set up by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. “We hope the Pope will come to Canada,” Caron said. “He will apologize, he will express, we hope, a somewhat stronger apology … that goes a little further and recognizes and acknowledges the role of the Catholic Church in residential schools. Not just these individuals.”

The Vatican announcement is expected soon

If the Pope goes to Edmonton, Caron said she hopes she will also take the opportunity to visit Lac Ste. The Anne Pilgrimage Site is Canada’s National Historic Site, 78 miles (78 km) northwest. “It’s a special site,” he said. “A spiritual site, a healing area for the people of Métis.” In Rome, Pope Francis said he wanted to attend the annual pilgrimage to Lac Ste. Anne, taking place from 25 to 28 July this year. Pope Francis holds a final hearing in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace with representatives of the First Nations, the Inuit and the Métis on 1 April. (Vatican Media / Reuters)
“This year, I would like to be with you in those days,” Pope Francis said in Italian on April 1, during his last remarks to the indigenous delegates. The Pope’s scheduled day trip to Iqaluit follows an invitation from Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) President Natan Obed, who has been asked by Inuit leaders to support a papal visit to the Nunavut capital. “Given that the Catholic Church has a footprint in the Canadian Arctic for more than 100 years, we felt it was very important for the Pope to see our homeland,” Obed said. “And understand the context of the Inuit in the broader indigenous context of the presence of the Catholic Church and also the role it has played in the operation of residential schools.” Pope Francis has expressed interest in attending the Lac Ste in Alberta. Anne Pilgrimage, taking place from 25 to 28 July this year. (Edmonton Catholic Archdiocese / YouTube)
Obed said ITK took part in an on-site visit by Vatican officials to Iqaluit last Friday, which he described as positive. “We recognize our role as an auxiliary instead of being instructive to the Pope on what he should or should not do,” Obed said. In a statement to CBC News, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) said it was consulting with national indigenous organizations on dates and locations that have not yet been finalized, and will continue these discussions to schedule a visit if and when it is confirmed. . The Vatican has the absolute say and sources said that an official announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

The Pope’s visit will be different from the trip of the rival country of ’84

Pope Francis has received numerous invitations from indigenous leaders to visit their territories, including the leaders of the First Nations in Manitoba and Kúkpi7 (Leader) Rosanne Casimir of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. Casimir gave the Pope a handwritten invitation to spend time in her community, which sparked a scandal in residential schools last year after announcing the discovery of more than 200 insignificant tombs near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site in British Columbia. . During his 12-day trip to Canada, Pope John Paul II greets the thousands gathered on September 17, 1984, for their outdoor operation at Namao Airport outside Edmonton. (Vatican Pool / The Canadian Press)
Some sources worry that the decision on where the Pope will go may disappoint some. But as the 85-year-old pontiff has significant health limitations, they say central hubs will be selected that can accommodate as many school survivors as possible to represent northern, western and eastern Canada. Obed said the natives should not take responsibility for how the trip unfolds or become “guardians for the winners and losers” of the Pope’s visit. “This is their event. This is what they want to do,” Obed said. “The Catholic Church and the Vatican must have that.” Members of the Assembly of First Nations and the Association of Indigenous Tourism of Canada, a delegation of Indigenous artists, perform at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on April 1. (Yara Nardi / Reuters)
This papal visit is expected to be much shorter than the 12-day journey of Pope John Paul II in 1984 – which included all parts of the country – and depends entirely on the pope’s health. Pope Francis has a chronic nerve condition called sciatica, which causes pain from the lower back to the legs. He walks lazily and finds it difficult to use the stairs, so accessibility is a key factor for any site he visits. Pope’s visits usually take at least a year to plan, so decisions about his visit to Canada unfolded in a much shorter time. It will also take place at the end of his planned voyage to the African continent in early July. “The Canadian bishops are grateful that Pope Francis accepted their invitation to visit Canada on a pilgrimage to healing and reconciliation,” the CCCB wrote in a statement to CBC News. “Given the advanced age of the Holy Father and the desire for simple, modest visits, we can expect that the Canadian visit will reflect this reality both during the pilgrimage and in the geography of such a visit, given the size of Canada. “We can expect that the visit to Canada will be very different from those of the past.”